Tit for tat

They materialized in Hillhurst again, where the monsters were still having tea. Little Ghoul had returned from the basement and was actually chatting with Horribelle.

'So that witch, you know, I decided to steal her wand!'

'Excellent, very smart move!'

'Not unlike the time you stole that axe from Nukus!'

'You heard about that?' Horribelle seemed pleased.

'What can I say, I have information!' Little Ghoul underlined. 'Say, also, can you maybe deliver me some new seeds once? I want to grow a new evil garden, I miss my plant Emily.'

'I think we can arrange that, even without the cartoonist,' Horribelle smiled diabolically.

'Super!'

Meanwhile the count was telling his life story to Nukus, who was a good listener altogether.

'Cookie?' Frankenbeans asked the new guests. Art happily accepted one, but Les refused.

'Geez, it's actually really cozy here,' Flabber said. 'I suspected to come back and find a burned out room and a battle outside.'

'The house monsters like the Crustaceans,' Drew told Flabber. 'They've been chatting nonstop. Man, it's like they're old friends.'

'I'm scared,' Roland said. 'We're in a room with our worst enemies and they're socializing.'

Les skipped up to his Crustaceans. He squeezed himself between them on the couch and started to pet their knees. It was a pretty quirky moment.

'Nukus, Horribelle! No hard feelings, right? About me, leaving you without any monsters, ready to die in a small tomb? Oh, also!' He waved his hands a bit. 'Vilor told me the good news! I'm so excited about it and I want to wish you both good luck! You have my author's blessing!'

'Good news?' Horribelle hissed. 'What might that be, cartoonist?'

'Why, that you and Nukus are a couple, of course!'

Flabber dropped his jaw, Mums some of his band aid and Roland his tea cup.

'The china, can't anyone pay attention to the china!' Flabber immediately called out.

'Dating?' Jo repeated. 'Firstly, they're monsters. Also, they're old. Oh, and thirdly, what?!'

Horribelle bit her lip and didn't reply, so Nukus eventually decided to confirm the cartoonist' statement. 'I'm not quite sure how Vilor even knows this, since we're not even actually 'dating'. But he's right in his statement to some degree. We are, somewhat, more intimate, than we were before. One could label it as being a 'couple', I presume. Right, Horribelle? Are you upset I confirmed it?' She shook her head and reached out for his hand.

'Wow, you have a boyfriend!' Little Ghoul called out. 'That's so awesome! I mean, of course I want to date Dragonborg for a while, but he's so tall and wise! Horribelle, you can give me dating advice! None of these loser bachelor guys can provide me with any tips!'

Horribelle laughed. 'Well, I'm sure we can discuss that a bit later,' she said.

Little Ghoul seemed even more excited now.

'Let's add that to our list of surprises. Our worst enemies are dating,' Drew remarked. 'Little Ghoul and Horribelle are in the running to be Best Friends for Life. Art and Les are on somewhat good terms since they can stand in a room for two minutes without fighting. What more can we expect today?!'

'I'm severely confused and progressing information I didn't want to know,' Roland muttered.

Count Fangula got up to shake Horribelle's hand.

'You remember that time, missy,' the count started, 'when you called my psychic hotline?!'

'No, please don't tell me that was you, that psychic hotline!'

'And me,' Little Ghoul confessed eagerly. 'I helped out too! You liked that hotline?! My idea, he worked for me, basically! A bozo like him can never think of something that cool.'

'Little Ghoul, if you please. Now, Horribelle, as you remember I predicted romance for your future! And I was right! See everyone, see?! I have actual psychic powers after all! And I also knew I was going to quit that hotline to begin with! Vampires dó have an innate sense of fortune telling!'

Mums grabbed his wallet. 'Guess I owe you those twenty bucks after all.' Little Ghoul threw some buttons on the table, and Frankie got a ten dollar bill out of his head.

'Thank you, thank you!'

'It's great to see how you're turning our small happiness into prosperity already,' said Horribelle. 'And I'm not even being sarcastic here, it's pure evil.'

'Weren't we here to discuss business?' Art asked. 'I mean, this is a great discussion and shocking too, I never knew our characters could do this, date and such, but still, Vilor will be here tonight. We need a plan!'

And so they started discussing.